Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 29 Who is the One to Discuss World Affairs (Part )
Shi Qilang stared at the Shandong man beside Liu Huai with his one eye for a long moment before speaking again: "Then according to what General Liu said, wouldn't it be hard for us to return home? Your promise to take us home has become empty talk, hasn't it?"

Liu Huai looked around and saw that almost all the soldiers had stopped eating and drinking and were looking over here quietly. He couldn't help but grin. "Of course I'm not talking nonsense, Qilang, why can't you think straight? There are thieves who want to harm you. The best and simplest way is to kill them!"

Shi Qilang's face was as gloomy as water. He ignored the clamor that rose again around him and asked loudly, "So, you Song army are still going to let us take the blame. How is this any different from being caught again?"

"The difference is that you can choose your own fate. Didn't I let you choose? Did I force you to return home?" Liu Huai asked loudly, "As for fighting in the battlefield... Qilang, you still have to earn your own life. Don't you understand this principle?"

Shi Qilang shook his head repeatedly. "Even if we were to follow you willingly, how many people would we have? Twenty thousand or thirty thousand? Do you know how many regular Jin troops there are? In the eastern part of Shandong alone, there are three Wanhu Dutongsi (command offices), with a total of thirty thousand soldiers and horses, not counting the temporary conscription troops. Do you believe that the Jin can muster a hundred thousand troops to fight us in Shandong?"

Liu Huai patiently explained, "If it were any other day, we would naturally be stopped by the Jin army. However, since the Jin leader Wanyan Liang is heading south to attack the Song Dynasty, he will definitely not leave his army in Shandong and Hebei. This is our opportunity!"

Shi Qilang regarded Wei Sheng's several hundred men as the vanguard of the Song army. After all, the Song army only dispatched less than a thousand men to the north, which was indeed a bit of a challenge to his imagination.

Liu Huai did not give a direct explanation, but instead began to emphasize the weakness of the Jin Kingdom's rear.

"The Great Jin... no... are the Jin thieves really going south?" Shi Qilang asked hesitantly.

Liu Huai patted the shoulder of the Shandong man next to him and said, "I haven't asked for your name yet, brother."

The Shandong man hesitated for a moment, holding the bowl in his hand. "My name is Han Fang, you can just call me Han Er."

Liu Huai smiled and said loudly to the soldiers around him, "Okay, Brother Han, I think your story is not an isolated case. If anyone among you has had their land taken away by the Jin bandits, raise your hands!"

The signatories looked at each other, and after a moment, at least two-thirds of them raised their hands.

Liu Huai thought that there might be many landless farmers among the soldiers who signed the army, but he did not expect there would be so many.

He was stunned for a moment, then continued loudly, "Then do you know why the Jin thieves insisted on taking your land?"

Not only Han Er, but even Shi Qilang looked confused.

Isn't this obvious? They're just robbing people's property.

Is there any other explanation?
"The reason is very simple, because the gold master Wanyan Liang does not want to be a tribal chief, but wants to be the emperor of the Central Plains!" Liu Huai held the bowl in one hand and pointed to the sky with the other, like a teacher teaching and answering questions.

Wei Rujun held his chin and sat aside, looking up at his elder brother with stars in his eyes and a silly smile on his face as he watched him give orders.

Wei Chang beside her buried his head in his bowl and ate noisily.

Wei Rujun frowned, raised his calf and kicked Wei Chang: "Eat, eat, eat, all you know is to eat. Listen carefully to what Big Brother says."

Wei Chang looked up blankly, with rice grains still hanging on his chin, but he didn't dare to refute his elder sister, so he just nodded randomly.

Wei Rujun glared at him with disappointment and was about to speak when he heard a voice behind him.

"May I ask, Liu Dalang, the Jin thieves have proclaimed themselves emperors and established their empire over the Central Plains for decades. Aren't they already the emperors of the Central Plains? How can they still be tribal chiefs?"

Liu Huai looked in the bonfire's light and saw that the person who had asked the question was a thin scholar, perhaps in his thirties, dressed in a round-necked, green robe and a black futou. His features were unremarkable, just ordinary, but the three long wisps of beard framing his chin and lip accentuated his sage-like demeanor. The middle-aged scholar sat at a wooden table, upon which lay writing brush, inkstone, and an oil lamp. He appeared to have been registering the soldiers.

"What's your name, sir?"

"My surname is Lu."

Liu Huai thought this person was just an ordinary scholar recruited by Wei Sheng. He was delighted, but he didn't expect there would be a supporting role. He immediately responded, "Actually, this question is very simple. Mr. Lu, why not think about it? Since the founding of the Jin Dynasty, who has the Jin ruler considered to be his own people? The Jurchens or the Han people?"

"Of course it's the Jurchens." The scholar nodded.

"But the Jurchens are organized into Meng'an and Mouke households according to the tribal system. The Jinzhu relies on them for support. So, is the Jinzhu the tribal chief or the emperor of the Central Plains?"

The scholar thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Back when the Liao Kingdom was still around, the Liao ruler relied on the Khitan tribes and established their own order. Even the government couldn't treat them as ordinary tribes."

Liu Huai continued to explain: "That's because the Liao Dynasty had both northern and southern courts, and the Khitan tribes and the Han people of Youyan coexisted, so the Liao Dynasty lasted for 200 years."

The scholar frowned: "Can't the Jin Kingdom do the same?"

Before Liu Huai could refute, the scholar slapped his forehead and said, "I have lost my mind. At this time, the Jin Kingdom has occupied the entire north, and the situation is different from that of the Liao Kingdom."

Liu Huai took over and continued, explaining, "If the Jin Kingdom wants to have both Northern and Southern Courts coexisting, then the Northern Court, which practices the tribal system, must at least be equal in strength to the Han territory. The Jin bandits initially relied on their 200,000 troops from the east and west to dominate the world. They used swords to settle all disputes, which naturally justified their actions. However, now the Jin bandits' forces are far weaker than before, and the Han territory they occupy is far greater than that of the Liao Kingdom. How can Wanyan Liang subdue millions of Han people?"

The scholar pondered: "So, the only way is..."

Liu Huai interjected, "The only solution is to transform the Jurchen household administration into the Jin dynasty's national administration and relocate the Jurchen Meng'an and Mouke households to the vast Central Plains. This is why the Jin dynasty moved its capital to the Central Plains, and this is why your land was taken away from you, because the Jin lord, Wanyan Liang, wanted to become the emperor of the Central Plains."

Shi Qilang had been listening silently until his breathing became heavy.

These soldiers who came from Shandong were confused before they heard it. They didn't understand what the North Court and the South Court were, nor did they understand the general situation of the world.

But they were still able to draw some conclusions from what happened to themselves and the people around them. When they heard that the Jin emperor had settled the Meng'an Mouke households in the Central Plains, they all began to whisper to each other.

Although the sound was small, it was made by hundreds of people speaking at the same time, and the buzzing sound was like a swarm of bees flying out of thin air.

Liu Huai didn't care and continued loudly: "The Central Plains has experienced wars and although there are wastelands, the Jurchens are a nation of the Jin Dynasty. How could they open up wasteland? Naturally, I can only make you suffer."

Han Er murmured to himself: "It turned out to be like this, it turned out to be like this..."

He slammed the empty bowl onto the ground and said through gritted teeth, "How could this be!"

The middle-aged scholar closed his eyes, recalling the official documents he had read and the rumors he had heard from his colleagues. He suddenly said, "But the Jin leader Wanyan Liang did not succeed."

(End of this chapter)